Southwest Alaska

For the naturalist, few places on earth can compare
with Southwest Alaska. Brown bears, sea otters, walrus, fur seals,
and sea birds share a variety of environments ranging from the
volcanic terrain of Katmai National Park to the windy grasslands
of the Aleutian Islands.

Kodiak Archipelago

Kodiak is the principal town onKodiak Island, and the home of Alaska's largest
fishing fleet. The original inhabitants of the island were the
Alutiiq, and 7,000 years later their descendants still live here.
The Alutiiq Cultural Center and Museum documents local Native
history and culture. From 1783 to 1700, the town of Kodiak was
the capital of Russian America, and reminders of their residency
can be found at the Russian Orthodox Church and the Baranof Museum,
formerly a fur storehouse and one of Alaska's oldest wooden structures.

The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge covers
two-thirds of the island, offering protected habitat for world-famous
Kodiak brown bears. These bears are the world's largest carnivorous
land mammals, and should be treated with caution and respect.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game offers pamphlets explaining
the safest methods for avoiding contact with bears.

Fort Abercrombie State Park
provides a forest setting for picnics and camping. Originally
a World War II coastal fortification, and one of the first secret
radar installations in Alaska, the fort is a national historical
landmark. Concrete bunkers still remain, and offer the curious
a chance to explore Alaska's wartime history.

On nearby Afognak Island you can watch or
participate in archaeological digs of Native sites, view wildlife,
or enjoy excellent hunting and fishing.

Alaska Peninsula

The Alaska Peninsula extends 550 miles into the Pacific
Ocean, leading to the Aleutian Islands. In the west, Lake
Clark National Park and Preserve offers a wilderness of seacoast,
mountains, and glaciers, and lakes filled with trophy-sized rainbow
trout.

Use scheduled air service from Anchorage toDillingham, Iliamna, or King Salmon for access to the region's fly-in fishing lodges.

King Salmon is the gateway to beautiful Katmai
National Park and Preserve, an excellent place to view brown
bear. Katmai's many fumaroles (volcanic openings) were caused
by a 1912 eruption of Novarupta volcano. The eruption covered
40 square miles with ash and pumice up to 700 feet deep. Streams
have cut dramatic gorges through the settled debris, creating
one of Alaska's most striking landscapes. You can walk the fantastic
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes independently, or take a bus tour.
You can photograph brown bears from the riverside trails, relax
at a lodge or tent site, or fly to other locations within the
preserve to take advantage of some of the finest sockeye fishing
in Alaska.

Iliamna provides access to the Kvichak River drainage,
an important habitat for red salmon, and possibly the largest
contributor to the Bristol Bay fishery.

Aleutian Islands

Past the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian
Islands begin their 1,500 mile sweep toward Asia. These beautiful
windswept isles, now the location of numerous national wildlife
refuges, were the theater for a 19-day battle between Japanese
and American troops in May 1943.

You can reach Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor
via scheduled jet from Anchorage, or you can take a summer ferry
from Kodiak Island. Unalaska was the early headquarters of the
Russian-American Company and center of the sea otter fur trade
in the 1700s. A bridge links Unalaska and Dutch Harbor, where
the local fishing fleet leads the nation in the quantity and value
of landed catch. There are two excellent examples of early Russian
churches. You can also explore a vast network of bunkers, pillboxes
and other World War II military sites. Accommodations and other
visitor services are available.

Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay is the world's largest producer of red
salmon, with fishing fleets based in Dillingham and Naknek.

Sportfishing enthusiasts give high marks to the lakes
and rivers surrounding Bristol Bay. Access is provided by fly-in
fishing lodges and guided river float-trips. The Wood-Tikchik
State Park system, an undeveloped wilderness half the size
of Connecticut, offers excellent fishing for large salmon, trout,
grayling, and arctic char in several interconnected lakes. The
area is reached by float plane from Dillingham.

Bethel, a major deep-water
port and commercial fishing center at the mouth of the Kuskokwim
River, is the largest town on the Bering Sea. Scheduled air service
provides access from Anchorage. An Eskimo trading center in the
1870's, Bethel is still a marketplace for Eskimo ivory carvings,
baskets, and other craft items. The Yupik Cultural Center features
Native exhibits and demonstrations of dancing and carving. The
town's Visitor Center and Museum Annex is called Yugtarvik, meaning
"a place for people's things." The center offers exhibits
of traditional Native tools and clothing, a collection of vintage
photos, Native art classes, and a gift shop.

Pribilof Islands

Visitors can fly out of Anchorage to visit the world-famous
sea bird and fur seal colonies on St.George and
St. Paul islands in the Bering Sea. Nearly 200 sea bird
species, including colorful puffins, can be seen on the rocky
cliffs. With a nesting population of approximately 2.5 million
birds, St. George may have the largest sea bird colony in the
Western Hemisphere. The Pribilof Islands were settled by Aleut
Natives, transported by Russian fur traders to harvest valuable
seal pelts. Several of the islands' many Russian churches are
on the National Register of Historic Places.